Anaheim Ducks' Kyle Palmieri (21) is defended by Colorado Avalanche's Nate Guenin(5) as he tries to score against Colorado Avalanche goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere(35) during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Sunday, April 13, 2014, in Anaheim, Calif.

Anaheim Ducks' Teemu Selanne, left, of Finland, is defended by Colorado Avalanche's Nate Guenin during the second period of an NHL hockey game on Sunday, April 13, 2014, in Anaheim, Calif.

ANAHEIM — During a break late in the first period at the Honda Center Sunday night, the Anaheim Ducks showed the man standing in the Colorado crease — Jean-Sebastien Giguere — on the scoreboard screens.

The public-address announcer introduced him and the presentation essentially reminded the crowd of his glory says with the Ducks, when he once held aloft the Stanley Cup in 2007 and in 2003 took Anaheim to the finals with a remarkable performance that earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff’s most valuable player.

They didn’t really need to be reminded.

The crowd gave Giguere a prolonged ovation, and players from both teams — his Avalanche teammates and the Ducks too — tapped sticks on the ice and otherwise joined in the salute.

On a night when the Ducks throughout also honored one of their own, winger Teemu Selanne, who was playing the final regular-season game of his career, Giguere made 33 saves, but the Ducks claimed a 3-2 victory on Nick Bonino’s goal at 1:33 of overtime. And then Selanne, who played one season with the Avalanche in 2003-04 as a shell of himself because of a bad knee, recruited Giguere to take a “victory” lap with him around the rink as the fans cheered.

“It’s surreal a little bit,” Giguere said. “I’m sure to Teemu it meant a lot more because he’s meant so much to the Ducks and people every time he was on the ice gave him a standing ovation. It’s very special. For him to think of me and come and get me, it’s something that is very special to me and I’ll never forget it. . . He was talking about the past and we wished each other good luck in the coming playoffs.”

The Avalanche clinched the Central Division title earlier in the day when St. Louis fell 3-0 at home to Detroit, finishing with 111 points for the season. Colorado entered the day with 111 as well, but owned the tiebreaker because of more regulation and overtime wins, so it came into the meeting with the Ducks assured of finishing first in the division and meeting the wild-card Minnesota Wild in the opening round of the playoffs, beginning Thursday.

Colorado finished 52-22-8 for the season, with 112 points. The 52 wins tied a franchise record, joining the 2000-01 Stanley Cup champions, which went 52-10-6-4 in the pre-shootout era … when games still could end in ties.

When St. Louis lost, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy changed up his goaltending deployment plan, giving Semyon Varlamov the night off and deciding to go with Giguere — a nice touch for both dramatic and pragmatic reasons. Giguere, 36, hasn’t confirmed that he will retire, but has indicated he’s leaning in that direction and the Avalanche’s acquisition of Reto Berra and his signing to a three-year contract extension guaranteed that Giguere, whose deal is expiring, likely won’t be returning to Colorado, regardless.

Against the Ducks, Colorado got goals from Brad Malone at 12:11 of the first period and the just-recalled Stefan Elliott at 18:51 of the second. The Ducks pulled even in the third with goals from Patrick Maroon at 1:41 and Saku Koivu at 4:54, then Bonino got the game-winner.

Given that both teams were locked into their playoff slots, a major goal was to get through the night without adding names to the injury list. Colorado defenseman Jan Hejda, though, suffered what the Avalanche labeled an upper-body injury in the second period and didn’t return. Roy said he didn’t know how serious the injury was. On a positive note there for the Avalanche, Roy said beforsee the game that defenseman Tyson Barrie — who suffered an upper-body injury against San Jose Friday — was held out mainly as a precaution and would be able to play in the opener against the Wild Thursday.

Forwards John Mitchell (head injury) and Cody McLeod ankle) again didn’t play against the Ducks. Roy said Mitchell likely wouldn’t be ready for the playoff opener, but that McLeod probably would be.

Avs vs. Wild

Reporter Terry Frei analyzes the matchup between the Avalanche and the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the NHL playoffs:

Wild strength: Ryan Suter plays marathon minutes on defense and is one of the best in the league.

Wild weakness: Acquired from Edmonton, Ilya Bryzgalov has been good so far with Minnesota but leaves the Wild with uncertain goaltending.

Wild player to watch: Winger Zach Parise, U.S. Olympic captain, can fly.

Key for the Avs to win: Avoid excessively changing game or mind-set because it’s the playoffs.

A graduate of Wheat Ridge High School and the University of Colorado, Terry Frei has been named a state's sportswriter of the year seven times -- four times in Colorado and three times in Oregon. He's the author of seven books, including the novel "Olympic Affair" about Colorado's Glenn Morris, the 1936 Olympic decathlon champion; and "Third Down and a War to Go," about the 1942 football national champion Wisconsin Badgers and the players' subsequent World War II heroism.

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